Germanic_names

Germanic name

Germanic name

Type of given name

Not to be confused with German name.

Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from æþele, meaning "noble", and ræd, meaning "counsel".

However, there are also names dating from an early time which seem to be monothematic, consisting only of a single element. These are sometimes explained as hypocorisms, short forms of originally dithematic names, but in many cases the etymology of the supposed original name cannot be recovered.[1]

The oldest known Germanic names date to the Roman Empire period, such as those of Arminius and his wife Thusnelda in the 1st century CE, and in greater frequency, especially Gothic names, in the late Roman Empire, in the 4th to 5th centuries (the Germanic Heroic Age).[2]

A great variety of names are attested from the medieval period, falling into the rough categories of Scandinavian (Old Norse), Anglo-Saxon (Old English), continental (Frankish, Old High German and Low German), and East Germanic (see Gothic names[3]) forms.

By the High Middle Ages, many of these names had undergone numerous sound changes and/or were abbreviated, so that their derivation is not always clear.

Of the large number of medieval Germanic names, a comparatively small set remains in common use today. For almost a thousand years, the most frequent name of Germanic origin in the English-speaking world has traditionally been William (from the Old High German Willahelm), followed by Robert, Richard and Henry.

Many native English (Anglo-Saxon) names fell into disuse in the later Middle Ages, but experienced a revival in the Victorian era; some of these are Edward, Edwin, Edmund, Edgar, Alfred, Oswald and Harold for males; the female names Mildred and Gertrude also continue to be used in present day, Audrey continues the Anglo-Norman (French) form of the Anglo-Saxon Æðelþryð, while the name Godiva is a Latin form of Godgifu. Some names, like Howard and Ronald, are thought to originate from multiple Germanic languages, including Anglo-Saxon.

Dithematic names

More information Element, Meaning ...


Monothematic names

Some medieval Germanic names are attested in simplex form; these names may have originated as hypocorisms of full dithematic names, but in some cases they entered common usage and were no longer perceived as such.

  • Masculine: Aldo (whence English Aldous), Adel, Anso/Anzo/Enzo, Folki/Folke/Fulco, Gero, Helmo/Elmo, Ise/Iso, Kuno, Lanzo, Manno, Odo/Otto, Rocco, Sten, Waldo, Warin, Wido, Wine, Wolf/Wulf
  • Feminine: Adele, Alda, Bertha, Emma, Hilda, Ida, Isa, Linda, Oda

Some hypocorisms retain a remnant of their second element, but reduced so that it cannot be identified unambiguously any longer; Curt/Kurt may abbreviate either Conrad or Cunibert. Harry may abbreviate either Harold or Henry.

Other monothematic names may have originated as bynames rather than hypocorisms of old dithematic names; examples may include Old English Æsc "ash tree", Carl "free man" (Charles), Hengest "stallion", Raban "raven" (Rabanus Maurus), Hagano/Hagen "enclosure", Earnest "vigorous, resolute".

Bynames

Germanic names often feature a range of bynames: additional names that accompany a 'forename'. These can be toponymic (locational), occupational, genealogical, or 'nicknames'.[31]

Uncertain etymology

  • Gustav has been interpreted by e.g. Elof Hellquist (1864 - 1939) Swedish linguist specialist in North Germanic languages as gauta-stabaz (gauta-stabaR) "staff of the Geats"; it may also originate as an adaptation of the Slavic name Gostislav.
  • Old English Pǣga (unknown meaning)
  • Waldo from Old English Waltheof (unknown meaning)
  • Pepin
  • Morcar
  • Zotto
  • Cleph
  • Pemmo

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

References

  1. [1]
    e.g. the names of kings Penda, Pybba, Offa, Wuffa, and Sebbi, all Anglo-Saxons born in the 6th or 7th centuries
  2. [2]
    The oldest attested Germanic name may be Harigast, written harikast in the Negau helmet inscription, but there are dissenting minority opinions.
  3. [3]
    Gothic or pseudo-Gothic names also constitute most of the personal names in use in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula during High Middle Ages; c.f. Boullón Agrelo, Ana Isabel (1999). Antroponomia medieval galega (ss. VIII - XII). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 978-3-484-55512-9. and Förstemann, Ernst (1900). Altdeutsches Namenbuch (3 ed.). Bonn: P. Hanstein. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  4. [4]
    "ank-1". indo-european.info.
  5. [5]
    c.f. OE ehtan
  6. [6]
    "agh-". indo-european.info.
  7. [7]
    names terminating in -ald are from -wald.
  8. [8]
    Vestralpus, the name of an Alamannic king, may be a rare instance of this element occurring in the second part of a name.
  9. [9]
    attested as latinized Ælsinus
  10. [10]
    perhaps reduced from Ælfgifu, or Ælthelgifu.
  11. [11]
    the name Oscar is an unrelated name of Irish origin meaning "deer-friend"
  12. [12]
    this name survives in corrupted form in the given name Axel and in the surnames Aslock, Hasluck
  13. [13]
    some possible rare exceptions, such as Fulcarb.
  14. [14]
    often conflated with Latin Pilgrim, Peregrinus
  15. [15]
    perhaps as a suffix in certain names latinized as -domus.
  16. [16]
    c.f. Old English eorcnan-stan "precious stone, gem". Pokorny (1959) tentatively grouped the word with PIE *arǵ- "glittering, shining", whence Latin argentum "silver"), but Gothic ark- may also represent an early loan from Greek ἀρχι- ("arch-", c.f. Ulfilan Gothic arkaggilus for archangelus). Formerly (Diefenbach 1851) also compared to Sanskrit arh- "to be worthy".
  17. [17]
    Erchtag was a name of Tuesday in Bavarian dialect; see Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 113; 182—185.
  18. [18]
    apparently a Gothic name; perhaps from fardi "travel" (Förstemann, 401), perhaps also from frithu "protection".
  19. [19]
    Okasha, Elisabeth (2016-12-05). Women's Names in Old English. Routledge. ISBN 9781351871211.
  20. [20]
    perhaps conflated with hild- from an early time.
  21. [21]
    names with this second element have been conflated with names in -rad. Förstemann 1900:875.
  22. [22]
    names with this second element are uncertain, most of the candidates could contain the simple suffix -ing. Förstemann 1900:877.
  23. [23]
    "HROD - Nordic Names".
  24. [24]
    Lena Peterson Nordiskt runnamnslexikon (2002)
  25. [25]
    cognate to Old Irish néit "combat", see Pokorny (1959), p. 755.
  26. [26]
    Yonge, p. 306.
  27. [27]
    see Hellmut Rosenfeld (1969). Der Name Wieland. Beiträge zur Namenforschung.
  28. [28]
    Förstemann, 1332f.
  29. [29]
    Förstemann, 1224.
  30. [30]
    "ÞRUÐ - Nordic Names Wiki - Name Origin, Meaning and Statistics". www.nordicnames.de. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  31. [31]
    Alphey, T. K. (2023). "The Definite Article in Old English 'Nicknames'". Notes & Queries. 70 (4): 223–224. doi:10.1093/notesj/gjad103.
  • Colman, Fran (2014). The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England: The Linguistics and Culture of the Old English Onomasticon. Oxford linguistics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198701675.
  • Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book (1937).
  • E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856; online facsimile)
  • Förstemann, Ernst (1900). Altdeutsches Namenbuch (3 ed.). Bonn: P. Hanstein. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  • Lena Peterson, Nordiskt runnamnslexikon, 4th ed. (2002); 5th ed. (2007).
  • P. R. Kitson, (2002). How Anglo-Saxon personal names work. Nomina, 24, 93.
  • F. C. Robinson, (1968). The significance of names in old English literature. Anglia, 86, 14–58.
  • Justus Georg Schottel, De nominibus veterum Germanorum, in: Ausführliche Arbeit Von der Teutschen Haubt-Sprache, Zilliger (1663), book 5, chapter 2, pp. 1029–1098.
  • Franz Stark, Die Kosenamen der Germanen: eine Studie: mit drei Excursen: 1. Über Zunamen; 2. Über den Ursprung der zusammengesetzten Namen; 3. Über besondere friesische Namensformen und Verkürzungen, 1868.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Viehbeck, Die Namen der Alten teutschen: als Bilder ihres sittlichen und bürgerlichen Lebens (1818; online facsimile)
  • H. B. Woolf, (1939). The old Germanic principles of name-giving. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • H. C. Wyld, (1910). Old Scandinavian personal names in England. Modern Language Review, 5, 289–296.
  • Charlotte Mary Yonge, History of Christian names, vol. 2, Parker and Bourn, 1863.
  • Schönfeld, Moritz (1911). Wörterbuch der altgermanischen Personen- und Völkernamen. Heidelberg: C. Winter.
Look up Appendix:Old English (Anglo-Saxon) surnames in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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